Tender process should be re-examined: Councillor

The practise of accepting the lowest bid for township contracts is not serving taxpayers well, according to Ward 2 Clearview Township council member Robert McArthur. The township’s procurement bylaw states that the lowest, or any bid will not necessarily be accepted, but McArthur says in actual fact, the lowest bid typically wins.

“With all the price increases and supply chain issues during Covid, councillors feel a lot of pressure to spend taxpayer dollars very carefully so we go to the lowest bid,” he said.

McArthur cites the case of a contract to provide winter road sand. It was awarded to a Barrie firm, when there was a Clearview Township company with a bid less than $5,000 higher. McArthur says once the climate impact of the extra fuel for delivery is considered, it might have made more sense to work with the local company.

McArthur says the renovation at Avening Community Centre is a prime example of why the lowest bid may not be the best one. The township originally awarded a contract for $1,352,370 to IHC General Contracting for work which was to have been completed by November 2023. The work fell well behind schedule, and in January this year, a new contract was awarded to Domm Construction to complete the job. Domm had been the 2nd lowest bid in the original tender process.

McArthur worries that the experience with the Avening Hall may sour the public on planned renovation projects at the remaining small halls.

He said, “I’m afraid people will say there’ll be no more revamps. It would be easier and cheaper to build new.”

Sometimes, the process does work, admits McArthur, “For the accessibility renovations at the council chambers we went with the low bid, which was substantially lower than the next one and that turned out okay.”

Township staff review all bids before they are presented to council and provide a report including reference checks. But McArthur says the bidders can be selective about the references they provide. When there are huge discrepancies between low and high bids for a project, he believes greater vigilance is required.